това е

Identifying with Това Е

Level 1Sounds Like tova e

Use това е to point something out or introduce someone: Това е Мария, Това е моят телефон. For more than one, use това са.

How It Works

Introducing and naming. Това е works like this is or that is for anyone and anything:

  • Това е брат ми. (This is my brother.)
  • Това е сестра ми. (This is my sister.)
  • Това е моят телефон. (This is my phone.)

Plurals. Keep това and change е to са: Това са моите книги. (These are my books.)

Questions and negatives. Какво е това? (What is this?) Кой е това? (Who is that?) Това ли е гарата? (Is this the station?) Това не е моята чанта. (This is not my bag.) See какво, кой/коя/кое/кои and въпросителна частица ли.

This, that or it. Това can also point back to a situation: Това е вярно. (That is true.) Това е много интересно. (That is very interesting.)

Before a noun it is different. When this stands before a noun, it agrees with that noun: тази книга, този град. See този/тази/това/тези. Compare: Това е книга (This is a book) and Тази книга е нова (This book is new).

Kinship words like брат and сестра are used with short possessives: брат ми. See роднински имена: майка ми.

Examples (6)

  1. Това е брат ми.

    This is my brother.

    Word by Word: This is brother my.

  2. Това е Мария, моя колежка.

    This is Maria, a colleague of mine.

    Word by Word: This is Maria, my colleague.

    Това stays the same even when it introduces a woman.

  3. Това са моите книги.

    These are my books.

    Word by Word: This are my books.

    For plurals, това stays and the verb becomes са.

  4. Какво е това?

    What is this?

    Word by Word: What is this?

  5. Това ли е гарата?

    Is this the station?

    Word by Word: This Q is station-the?

    Ли follows това to ask whether this is the right thing.

  6. Това е много интересно.

    That is very interesting.

    Word by Word: This is very interesting.

    Това can refer to a whole situation.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping е with a plural.

    Това е моите книги.
    Това са моите книги.

    Това does not change, but the verb must agree with the plural: това са.

  • Leaving out е.

    Това брат ми.
    Това е брат ми.

    Bulgarian always needs the verb in this pattern: това е.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

това еLevel 1Identifying with Това Е

Learn This First

Identifying with това е needs съм.

Words in This Pattern